FROM

ACTION

Tell your Senators and Representative to SUPPORT Humane Care for Primates
Act introduced by U.S. Representatives Renee Ellmers (R-NC) and Peter
DeFazio (D-OR). The narrowly-crafted humane legislation seeks to correct an
oversight in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
regulations governing the importation of nonhuman primates (NHPs), which
currently prevent certified sanctuaries from saving animals at risk.

Current CDC regulations allow the importation of primates for “bona fide
scientific, educational, or exhibition purposes,” which excludes sanctuaries
and prevents needy primates overseas from being rescued by U.S.
organizations. Meanwhile, zoos, circuses, universities, and other facilities
are fundamentally unhampered in their acquisition of foreign primates.

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

According to Adam Roberts, Executive Vice President of Born Free USA,
“While we always prefer for a wild animal to remain in its natural wild
habitat, the reality is that this is not feasible for some primates. Those
who have been forced to perform in circuses or held in captivity as pets are
discarded when they are no longer ‘useful.’ They are physically and
psychologically traumatized, and are likely to be placed in worse conditions
or even put to death. If a U.S. sanctuary can rescue even one of these
abused animals, then this legal change will be worthwhile.”

"Sanctuaries provide humane, lifetime care of primates, many of whom have
been rescued from inhumane conditions," Ellmers said. "Compassionate care
for deprived primates is very important to me and I am proud to have
spearheaded this common-sense legislation to benefit animals in need."

This bill will require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to
include certified animal sanctuaries within the categories for which
primates may be imported in the CDC regulations. Furthermore, the Secretary
will establish a certification process for sanctuaries to ensure that only
high-quality sanctuaries can participate under this new rule, such as those
like the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, which is accredited by the Global
Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.

“I have championed wildlife protection issues for years, and it has become
clear that the needs of neglected and abused primates abroad are the same as
those here in the U.S.,” said DeFazio. “America is fortunate to have many
accredited sanctuaries capable of making a difference for animals in need
and we must ensure that this opportunity is open to them.”

Born Free USA knows first-hand the benefits of this change. The 186-acre
Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary in Dilley, Texas is home to more than 600
primates, most rescued from deplorable circumstances. Roberts explains, “The
conditions we have found many of these animals in is truly unimaginable and
sickening – small cages in dark basements covered in their own feces. We are
happy to be able to provide some of these victims with a large open place to
live out their lives in freedom, with proper food and care, social
interaction with other primates, and grass and trees for the first time in
their lives.”

The Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary has been asked to take in primates from
similarly abusive circumstances abroad, but has sadly been unable to do so
due to the CDC regulations. In 2011, the Princess Alia Foundation’s New Hope
Centre in Amman, Jordan asked Born Free USA to import and provide permanent
refuge for three vervet monkeys and nine baboons confiscated from severely
inhumane circumstances in zoos and private possession. That same year, the
Colobus Trust in South Coast, Diani Beach, Kenya requested that Born Free
USA take a yellow baboon who was kept as a pet for two years and had
developed behavioral issues, for which he was facing impending euthanasia.
Despite being fully equipped to accept and care for these primates for the
rest of their lives, as well as the ability to assist a foreign sanctuary in
need, the current regulation forced the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary to
deny these requests.

The changes this bill would provide are long overdue. Every day that
sanctuaries are excluded from the regulations is another day that primates
abroad are unable to experience compassionate care in the U.S. “Passage of
the Humane Care for Primates Act is the humane decision,” Roberts
emphasizes. These animals are suffering every day and deserve a second
chance at life in a true sanctuary.”

This legislation is supported by Born Free USA and The Humane Society of the
United States, as well as a number of other organizations including the
Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, Born Free Foundation (UK), Humane
Society Legislative Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Animal
Legal Defense Fund, WildLifeRisk, Animals Asia Foundation, Earthtrust, Care
for the Wild International, and Lilongwe Wildlife Trust.

Born Free USA is a nationally recognized leader in animal welfare and
wildlife conservation. Through litigation, legislation, and public
education, Born Free USA leads vital campaigns against animals in
entertainment, exotic "pets," trapping and fur, and the destructive
international wildlife trade. Born Free USA brings to America the message of
"compassionate conservation" -- the vision of the U.K.-based Born Free
Foundation, established in 1984 by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, stars
of the iconic film Born Free, along with their son Will Travers, now CEO of
both organizations. Born Free's mission is to end suffering of wild animals
in captivity, conserve threatened and endangered species, and encourage
compassionate conservation globally.

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